Barbara Brotman

Columnist

Barbara Brotman is a columnist and writer whose work ranges from the joys and absurdities of daily life to the Chicago experience in its complexity and occasional tragedy. As the Tribune’s outdoors adviser from 2004 to 2013, she invited readers to explore the Chicago area’s natural beauty. A city girl transplanted from New York, she is a swimmer who lives for the summer outdoor pool season.

Recent Articles

The city's North Side-South Side rivalry is always in play, most prominently in the baseball version that this year has been so decisively settled. But in another category, I am casting my vote differently. When it comes to the lakefront bike trail, the South Side rules. Ah, South Side lakefront!...

What's $2 to you? A pack of gum? A greeting card, if you buy generic? The loose change in your purse? It's something else in Kathryn Edin and H. Luke Shaefer's new book: a daily income. A shockingly large number of people in this country, they write, are living on $2 a day — the World Bank's definition...

Inside the Daley Center, and in courthouses across the state, the cases unfold in careful confidentiality. They are filed anonymously. The petitioner meets with a judge in an empty courtroom or in the judge's chambers; the judge knows her only as Jane Doe. The transcript and court records are sealed....

Nancy Morris had me at "Quiet Rooms." She was telling me about the Tau Center, a spirituality ministry of the Wheaton Franciscans where she is marketing specialist. It welcomes people to spend some time in contemplation, meditation or however they find peace and introspection. They can walk the...

Stephanie Jackson was nervous as she stepped in front of the room. "This is a very important day for the Fe Fes," she began softly. "This is the first time that a group of women with disabilities …." She paused and looked down at her notes. "Oh, God," she murmured. The room echoed with encouragement....

Eric Bennett turned his truck onto Eggleston Avenue, pulled up to where Amanda Williams was standing and asked the question that had been perplexing him for weeks: Why had that house been painted purple? There it stood behind Williams — a lone abandoned house painted bright purple, the slash of...

Who are you at work? An accountant, maybe. An administrative assistant. A manager. But might you also be an artist? At Fermilab, the answer is presumed to be yes. For 46 years, the particle physics and accelerator laboratory near Batavia has regularly held an employee art show. Physicists, administrative...

As the growing seasons draws to a close, hear my confession: I am a CSA failure. Oh, how I wanted to love Community Supported Agriculture. What a great idea, I've often thought: You buy a share in a CSA run by a small local farm, and every week or two you get a box of just-picked produce. You get...